The present invention refers to a mounting strip for mounting a formed part on a body of a motor vehicle whereby the mounting strip comprises a strip-shaped basic body.
Generic mounting arrangements are known in multiple embodiments for the attachment or mounting of formed parts, such as a bumpers, paneling or cover strips. Oftentimes single clips are utilized for these purposes, which are applied separately at the vehicle body and onto which the mounting arrangement or the mounting strip is attached. A disadvantage of this arrangement is the relatively extensive mounting work, since each single attachment a clip has to be attached to the auto body. A further disadvantage lies in the fact that due to tolerance fluctuations the single clips, with respect to their part that has to be mounted, do not always provide locational exactness, which makes mounting more difficult and which also can make the mounted part look unsightly, because in such a case, the joint between the formed part and the vehicle body follows an irregular pattern.
There have been attempts to remedy this disadvantage, in particular, to avoid the extensive mounting effort such that the use of separate mounting parts has been abandoned and lock elements were instead provided at the formed part by means of which the formed part could be attached directly at the vehicle body. Thus, DE 295 20 573 U1 describes an ornamental strip or bumper strip, which are made of thermoplastic material and which are provided at their rear side with attachment elements that are configured as lock elements for engagement in openings of the vehicle body. In this manner, while the mounting work can thus be facilitated, the problem with precisioning the position of the formed parts is thereby not solved, as such formed parts are normally unitary pieces of relatively large dimension and the imprecision of their positioning is even increased due to tolerance fluctuations that occur during manufacturing.
In addition, in the case where large-dimensioned formed parts of plastic material are involved that include lock elements directly formed at the formed part and which are to be attached for example at metal parts of the vehicle body, the different thermal expansions of metal and plastic have a negative impact and are especially noticeable. Also, formed or molded parts form plastic material that are very precisely adapted with little tolerance can cause the formation of cracks due to the differential thermal expansion, whereby finally the stability of the attachment is in peril. On the other hand, attempts to balance this disadvantage with increased tolerances jeopardizes the precision in positioning the part
DE 198 03 402 A1 discloses an attachment arrangement, which again provides for a separate mounting part but the mounting has increased user friendliness which is realized in that the separate mounting part is configured as a mounting strip, which also includes that coupling elements are provided at the strip, which elements are for engagement in recesses of the vehicle body. The mounting arrangement that is described there, while user-friendly and precisely located, can however still lead to problems due to the differential in the thermal expansion of metal and plastic. In addition, the attachment of a mounting strip at the vehicle body is relatively complex. Accordingly, it is provided that the mounting strip connects with the vehicle body via a keyhole system, whereby several mounting elements are mutually combined to realize a tight connection.
An object of the present invention is thus to provide a mounting arrangement for attachment of formed parts at the body of a vehicle which does not exhibit the drawbacks of the afore-discussed prior art.